Majority of adults prefer showers to baths, survey claims

Respondents say showers are cleaner and faster

Research found people typically showered 20 times a month (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

More than half of the population prefer showers to baths, according to a new study

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents said they would choose a shower, compared to just 32 per cent who chose baths.

Three-quarters of those who preferred showers said they liked them because they were faster and more than half of respondents said they felt cleaner after a shower.

The research of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Victorian Plumbing, found people typically showered 20 times a month and tended to have a bath on eight occasions over the same period.

Respondents typically showered for nine minutes and 20 seconds at a time whereas those who bathed took 25 minutes and four seconds on average.

A spokesperson for Victorian Plumbing said: “Like cats versus dogs or summer versus winter, it would seem that Britons are divided between being either a bath or a shower person.

“With the average time spent in the bath being almost half an hour and over twice as long as time in the shower, the nation’s preference for showers would suggest that more of us are looking for a quick way to get ready or wash away the day.

“Those who favour baths may have discovered the key to a more relaxed life though and one day the shower-fans could be converted to their way of living.”

Although 30 million Britons were fierce advocates of showering, a not insignificant 17 million were solidly pro-bath.

Seventy per cent of those who fell into this category preferred baths because they helped them switch off and 54 per cent said they helped them get some much needed peace and quiet.

Respondents also revealed they liked to make sure everything is “just right” when bathing, with almost half adding bubble bath and 16 per cent choosing to light candles.

Most shower users – 41 per cent – tended to do so every day, whereas bathers were most likely to go for a soak on a Sunday.

The spokesperson for Victorian Plumbing added: “It speaks to the idea that baths are for when we have a bit more time on our hands and want to take a moment for ourselves.

“Sunday is the perfect day at the end of the week for a lot of people to get in that final bit of relaxation before the Monday blues come back around.”

The research also identified some of the things people get up to when showering and bathing.

A quarter regularly sang in the bath and a third liked to belt out a song or two in the shower.

Half had even shared a bath with someone in the romantic sense, while 57 per cent had done the same thing in the shower.

Although most British adults preferred showers over baths, there was a noteworthy exception – 37 per cent of parents found it was easier to get their children to have a bath rather than shower.

SWNS